Fizer's Take: Atlanta Hawks

After a strong finish in the 2008-09 regular season, the Hawks were ready for a bigger challenge in the playoffs. They took Miami over seven games but was embarassed by the Cavs in an astonishing sweep, leaving a nightmare ending to what many believe an amazing run by the very young Hawks team. Do you think they can do it better next year? A lot of factors attributed to the Hawks sweep to the Cavaliers. One would be key injuries to Al Horford and Marvin Williams. If those two were a 100%, they would have given the Cavs a brawl. The rising Hawks had an interesting off-season, resigning Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams was key for them. It gave them a better core and a better learning experience with each other. Bibby may be getting old but his game is still far from over. He can still shoot with the best of them. His playmaking skills are still helping the Hawks become solid. Marvin Williams, well, he may always be part of a trivia that he got drafted ahead of CP3 but the progress he made has been unbelievable. His game can be solid and at 23 years old, he can still develop his potential though people will always scrutinize the Hawks for drafting him ahead of Paul and D-Will. Their acquisition of Jamal Crawford should give them a solid scoring guard that can lessen the pressure of big-time players like Bibby and Joe Johnson and high-flying Josh Smith. The team may help Jamal in getting him a playoff experience for the first time in his 9 year-career. The previous drafts has been shenanigans and disappointing for the Hawks especially 2006 where they had wasted their fifth pick on selecting Duke Center Forward Shelden Williams. It didn't turn out good for them since Brandon Roy and Randy Foye and Rudy Gay were very much available at that time... (tsk)... 2007 did show them a promising player in Al Horford but wasted their 11th pick on Acie Law. I think the Hawks were pressured to take a point guard after snubbing the likes of Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Randy Foye in the previous two drafts. Acie Law just wasn't a good fit for them. This year, 2009, they acquired skilled-guard Jeff Teague at 19. He will be a good addition to an already-strong rotation for coach Mike Woodson. Could the Hawks soar even higher this upcoming season? We'll wait and see.

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

NBA Draft Grade: B

NBA Offseason Grade: A-

Projected W-L: 49-33

All these are just opinions from the writer... Care to comment, I'll keep an open mind...^^

I think they will be a little better, but the record might not show it because other eastern teams like Washington and Toronto are also stepping up. The perimeter talent is there, but I don't really like Bibby at the point because he has trouble creating offense or defending. He is pretty much just a spot up shooter. Crawford should take some of his minutes at the point with Johnson doing more of the distributing while Crawford lights it up.

Someone needs to light a fire under Josh Smith because he just does'nt play with enough passion. He does'nt take enough pride in his defense and he settles too much on offense. Also, the Hawks need more help down low. Zaza should be a backup on a playoff team and Horford did'nt show much improvement in his second season.

I think the Hawks win about 45 games and get a 4-6 seed in the playoffs once again. Defense and toughness will be there downfall.

now the Hawks have had a solid offseason thus far, resigning their key free agents but they still have a major hole up front. The only big men they have are Josh Smith, Al Hoford, Zaza and Randolph Morris. THat simply isn't scaring the Cavs, Magic or Celtics. Since Powe just signed with the Cavs, its imperative that the Hawks do everything they can to get Joe Smith. He'd help out so much, he's a big body, can defend, rebound and can mentor Josh and Al. If they want someone who will battle every rebound and hustle every play, they need Pops Mensah Bonsu. He will make these guys work in practice because he wants it real bad, will rebound and block shots and dunk. He doesn't care about scoring. the backcourt is solid with Bibby, JJ, Crawford and Teague. Say what you want about Bibby, but he has quarterbacked them to 2 straight playoff appearances and 47 wins last year. Sure he doesn't play good defense and has lost a step but he know how to run a team, can shoot the lights out and is a leader. I like the Crawford addition because he is a flat scorer off the bench and I can see him being a valuable 6th man in the mold of Jason Terry and Manu Ginobli. I think this is a huge year for both Marvin Williams and Josh Smith, both got their big contracts and now its time to step up n prove your worth the money. Marvin needs to continue to grow on both ends of the floor and extend his range while Josh Smith needs to step shooting so many jumpers, take it to the basket and focus on the defensive end, if both continue this development then the future is bright. I can see the Hawks finishing between 4-6 but if they get the bigs they need, I thkn the 4 spot is theirs to lose